website design

a friend and sort-of boss has asked me if i could help her design a simple website for her freelance business. she didn’t want anything to fancy, more of an electronic business card than an actual website. i have yet to tell her if i’d do it, mostly because i have never designed a website in my life. i made an aborted attempt to spruce up my blog ages ago and haven’t fiddled with html since then.

my boyfriend has assured me that i can do it – that it isn’t that difficult. well… we’ll see.

today i attempted to learn adobe’s dreamweaver. it is definitely a confusing mess to anyone not initiated. and I had a hard time even poking around, but i found an adobe tutorial about creating a basic website, which has proved to be very helpful. especially with content. so i’m on my way to having a design for my own website. (because i figured i shouldn’t charge her for my idiotic attempts.)

currently my stumbling blocks all relate to pictures. i loaded the ones i liked from my portfolio, but they wouldn’t show up. then i tried other random pictures, and they worked. i think my problem has to do with the size of the files. i will resize and try again.

here it is for now.

thanksgiving!

so thanksgiving is over and i am super proud of how i did!

on wednesday i created this email card to send out to all my friends and family. i’ve been so busy recently that i didn’t have time (weeks ago) to make a real card. (i’m still working on my “i’ve moved cards” although i’ve been here for a month!)

anyways, i whipped together this quick image and send to everyone.

i wanted a scared turkey with serene pilgrims in the background. but of course they’re holding an axe so you know what’s going to happen.

by the way one of my favorite things about thanksgiving is that the president, of the united states, pardons, that’s right pardons, two turkeys! hahaha what ridiculousness!?!?! i was joking this morning with my bf that what we don’t see is the handlers bringing the turkeys around the back of the white house for the white house chefs to kill and cook for the white house thanksgiving dinner. gee gads!

second accomplishment is, i think, more significant. i made my grandmother’s pecan pie. what!?! i made my mom’s pie dough (though a little short to make a fancy finish) and my grandmother’s pecan filling. i even got the pecan topping right. it looked so good coming out of the oven that i wanted to dig right in! i couldn’t wait to dig into it on thanksgiving! it’s definitely something that i will be proud to pass onto my children. look how fabulous!

doesn't it look great?!? i’ll share the recipe later.

then on thanksgiving, i did the miraculous... i made a juicy thanksgiving turkey! we used this recipe. it was so easy! pop in the oven. take out at halftime and glaze and then glaze every 30 minutes until the cooking time was over. easy-peazy. didn't it also turn out just lovely?!?

hope you had a happy thanksgiving too!

room by room - kitchen

to follow up the last entry about my entry, my kitchen!

it’s super basic, but is huge and has tons of storage for a nyc apartment.

it is really a galley kitchen with everything on one wall although it is its own room. with two base cabinets and multiple upper cabinets the amount of storage is overwhelming. i own nothing…

the oven is huge as well, and the refrigerator is average. i had to do an extensive cleaning of everything. the former tenant obviously had no urge to clean on their way out.

my plan for this space is fully formed in my head. i plan on painting the currently empty wall a bright fuchsia. on top of that I plan on putting a butcher block counter with four legs close to the entrance, to use as a breakfast bar and additional counter space, and fill the rest of the wall with rubbermade shelving. i know that i think the current storage space is excessive, but i also know i will buy tons of kitchen stuff over time. plus it gives me excellent pantry storage.

this room will probably be done way before any of the others are.

room by room - entry

here’s the photos i’ve been talking about. room by room i will post photos of my new apt. and as i finish room by room, i will post updated photos.

without further adieu… my entry!!!

it’s pretty large and i have great plans for it. i am thinking a sideboard to the right. somewhere to put keys and mail and whatnot. i think i’ll place a rubber mat or sisal runner underneath it in order to have a place to put my shoes when there’s bad weather. i’ll probably need a seat as well. i am leaning towards having a coat tree or rack as well. but i don’t know yet. then the art. lots and lots of art.

and… I almost forgot the best part. a chandelier. i’m thinking a petite crystal (fake probably) chandelier to greet me when i get home. how about it?!?!

i was originally going to paint every room (including ceilings) but i’m starting to think otherwise. paint will have to wait. i’m sort of thinking i’ll do it in select spots.

i can’t wait to get this all sorted!

new apartment… what what?!?

so it’s official! i have moved into my new place! pictures will come soon, but just so you know it’s fabulous. i have yet to decorate anything. and the apt doesn’t even look like this anymore, because i also was able to get all of my stuff out of storage!

first off what you need to know about this place is that it is in the brooklyn neighborhood of lefferts gardens. this neighborhood is mostly caribbean and was once a super exclusive neighborhood so it has tons of adorable single-family homes. otherwise my building is in a great location, with two grocery stores within blocks, several laundromats as well, and is super quiet (a plus in nyc). the building is pretty big with two wings of apartments. there are four apartments per floor in my wing. i of course had to move to the top floor… :(. i’ve met two of my three neighbors, and they are both very nice.

my apartment is just amazing. who knew that such an apartment existed in my budget! i have a pretty large one-bedroom for peanuts. here’s the floorplan that created as soon as i had the keys!

 
the bad thing about having such large of an apartment is that i have no furniture. you can see my piddly amount of furniture in the newer photos. it’s really sort of sad. but i will soon fill it with lots of lovely pieces. and will try to update you as i go. such a fun yet stressful task! in another post i will update with certain ideas i already have.

guess what i did???

what?

i went to the jets game!

my boyfriend has slowly gotten sucked into being a football fan, and even joined a fantasy league this year. (which he is winning. who knew germans could be so good at fantasy football?!) so when he suggested we go to a game, i wasn’t that surprised. but i’m game for anything (almost anything) and was all for the idea. the two of us plus a friend of his, to whom he owed a favor, trekked out to jersey for the game against the san diego chargers. it was definitely an interesting experience. the best part was the game. with an initial touchdown by the chargers (BOO!) and then a decisive win for the jets the whole experience was fun. the stadium was a little too open for my taste. and the food was pathetic. they were running out of things by the end of half time. despite everything, the whole thing was a blast. and it will probably end up being a yearly outing.